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Place dossier plate
SheetWY-BIG-PINEY-WY · Big Piney, WY 445 pop · income 39th pct
Instrument codes from this place’s ACS population and household income, BEA state COL, FBI safety, national income percentile, photo-finish peer city, home-value band, and matched Census-tract book - not a moving recommendation.
Income neighbourhood around Big Piney
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Big Piney on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Burnside · lowest
28,625
Burnside · lowest
28,625 median HH income
18.4% of the leader · rank #1
Big Piney · this city
62,500
Big Piney · this city
62,500 median HH income
40.1% of the leader · rank #2
Industry · near
62,500
Industry · near
62,500 median HH income
40.1% of the leader · rank #3
Buncombe · near
62,500
Buncombe · near
62,500 median HH income
40.1% of the leader · rank #4
Colchester · near
62,500
Colchester · near
62,500 median HH income
40.1% of the leader · rank #5
Shipman · near
62,500
Shipman · near
62,500 median HH income
40.1% of the leader · rank #6
Turnerville · highest
155,793
Turnerville · highest
155,793 median HH income
100.0% of the leader · rank #7
What this shows Neighbourhood peers only - not a full nationwide city board. Open a near peer when the gap is small; open the poles when the spread is wide.
Compare beyond this state
Nationwide peers by population, income
Out-of-state nearest neighbors for Big Piney on ACS population and median household income
. Link sets are deduped so each column is a distinct comparison path, not a forecast that peers share a labor market or climate.
Similar population
Nearest out-of-state cities by ACS population. This city: 445.
Big Piney ranks in the 39th percentile for household income nationally, out of every US city with at least 1,000 residents. Source: Census ACS.
39th
percentile, household income
42nd
percentile, home value
18th
percentile, median rent
📝 How we sourced this
Population, income, and housing-cost figures come from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 5-year estimates (B-series tables). Crime data uses FBI UCR; climate uses NOAA Climate Normals; school counts come from NCES Common Core of Data; permits use the Census Building Permits Survey (BPS). See our methodology page for the full ETL pipeline and OMB / FIPS join keys.
Data Snapshot: Big Piney, WY
445 people live in Big Piney, Wyoming - a small town by U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. Households in Big Piney report a median income of $62,500 per year, below the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 3.0%. Big Piney's housing stock carries a median value of $198,700, and the median resident age is 43.8 years. 36.4% of adults here have a bachelor's degree or higher; 58.8% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
Housing supply pressure shows in Census Building Permit Survey data: 0 residential units were authorized in 2024 (No Permits).
Living costs in Wyoming run below the national norm: on BEA's 100-equals-national-average cost index, Wyoming scores 92.7 (Below Average), per the 2024 Regional Price Parities release. Statewide, HUD pegs Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom unit at $1,044 monthly. EIA 2023 residential energy data puts Wyoming's average monthly utility costs around $180 (state average). On FEMA's National Risk Index, this area rates 37.9 out of 100 for natural-hazard exposure (Very Low).
A decision-led reading path
Useful questions to ask of Big Piney's data
How this reading path is ordered
This is not a composite city score. It is a city-specific route through the available public records, ordered for this profile so the page starts with questions the joined data can actually answer. The route here runs from population change to work and mobility to comparison shortlist to schools and households to housing and income; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Big Piney, city-specific coverage includes commute-mode shares, matched public-school count, local building permits, annual population history.
No matched row is reported here for FBI reported-crime rates, within-city Census tract profiles; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
Question 1
Is Big Piney growing, shrinking, or holding steady?
Census PEP estimates show the population declined by -17 residents from 2020 to 2025, a -4.2% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 0 housing units authorized in 2024. PEP and ACS are different Census series, so the trend is kept separate from the headline ACS population.
Recent estimates point downward. A falling count can reflect migration, household size, annexation boundaries, or estimation noise, so it is a prompt to inspect the full series rather than a claim about local economic health.
What does the journey to work look like in Big Piney?
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 76.5%. A reliable mean commute time is not available for this row, so the mode shares carry the comparison.
Mode share answers how workers usually travel; it does not measure congestion, reliability, distance to a particular job, or the quality of transit service. No single mode completely explains the work trip here. The mix is more useful than a one-number commute grade, especially when comparing places where transit, walking, and remote work divide the non-driving share differently.
Which cities make useful reference points for Big Piney?
Use the in-state set to hold state policy and broad price conditions more nearly constant. Use the nationwide size set to ask whether cities with a similar resident count produce different housing, income, or commute outcomes. The income set is a third lens, deliberately separate from population matching.
Within Wyoming, the closest population matches are Hulett (445 residents, $71,078 income); James (447 residents, $109,808 income); Byron (465 residents, $67,115 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Burnside, AZ (445 residents); Bruceville, IN (445 residents); Lake Holiday Hideaway, IN (445 residents). A third, income-matched reference set of 6 out-of-state cities sits in the income neighbourhood chart near the Place Dossier plate. These are mechanical peer sets, not claims that the places share a labor market, climate, culture, or metro context.
What does the education layer cover for Big Piney?
The city has a broader matched school footprint, but count alone does not describe performance, capacity, program availability, or attendance boundaries. This profile deliberately avoids converting it into an unsupported family-friendliness score.
The NCES join finds 3 public schools within the city match. 36.4% of adults age 25+ hold a bachelor's degree or higher in the ACS estimate. These measures answer different questions: the school count describes local institutions, while adult attainment describes residents and cannot be used as a school-quality rating.
These joined records add useful context, but they do not need another full-size panel. Each remains a separate measure with its own geography and source boundary.
Housing and income
How far does income reach against housing in Big Piney?
This is a citywide price-to-income reference, not a mortgage-affordability test; it does not include interest rates, taxes, insurance, household size, or an individual buyer's down payment. Income and home value move within the same broad scale here. The useful next check is not a generic affordability label, but whether similar-size cities offer a materially different income, housing, or commute trade-off.
The home-value-to-income reference sits in a middle range: the ACS median home value is 3.2 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 3.0%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
Value / income
3.2×
Home value
$198,700
Household income
$62,500
City-level Census ACS 2023 medians. The ratio divides two separate medians and is descriptive only.
Comparative score against U.S. cities with population of 1,000 or more on Census ACS medians
(income, poverty, bachelor's share, cost of living) and FBI UCR violent-crime rates when
published. Higher means a stronger standing on those published figures, not a livability
rating, not a recommendation to move, buy, or pick a "best" city. Missing inputs drop out
and redistribute weight.
How it is calculated.
Poverty rate B+
3.0%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Cost of living B+
92.7 index
BEA state Regional Price Parities index (100 ≈ national average); lower is stronger on this axis. Same value for every city in the state.
Bachelor's+ share B-
36.4%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Household income F
$62,500
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Violent crime N/A
N/A
No FBI UCR violent-crime rate for this place (coverage is incomplete).
Big Piney profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Poverty rate: 79/100 (B+) · 3.0%
Cost of living: 75/100 (B+) · 92.7 index
Bachelor's+ share: 69/100 (B-) · 36.4%
Household income: 38/100 (F) · $62,500
How does Big Piney compare to other US cities?
Big Piney measured against every US city with 1,000+ residents, computed live from the same Census and FBI data shown throughout this page.
Household income39% higher than other cities
Home value42% pricier than other cities
Median rent18% pricier than other cities
"Safer than" reflects total crime rate from FBI UCR; the others use Census ACS estimates.
How we calculate these percentiles & ranks
Each percentile compares Big Piney against every qualifying US city; each in-state rank narrows that to Wyoming only. Full formula and direction notes: methodology.
Wyoming-relative analysis
Median Gross Rent places Big Piney near the bottom of Wyoming's cities
Among the 150 Wyoming cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Big Piney ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Big Piney only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#92 of 135
32nd percentile in Wyoming
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 150
0th percentile in Wyoming
Median Home Value
#81 of 128
37th percentile in Wyoming
Poverty Rate
#93 of 149
37th percentile in Wyoming
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#29 of 150
81st percentile in Wyoming
How in-state ranks are ordered
Ranked by raw value (highest first); a higher rank is not automatically "better" for every measure, see each metric's own context above. This is a comparison within Wyoming only, not a livability score. See the methodology for the source and calculation.
Gauge source note
39th percentile nationally for median household income. Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
How Big Piney's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$198,700Among the most affordablemore affordable than 58% of 15,600 US cities
Show national distribution
Each bar is a $25K-wide band; taller bars hold more US cities. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.
Source U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year Estimates · 2023
Big Piney's home-value-to-income ratio: 3.2×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
moderate
3.0–5.0×
National rank
#7,589 of 15,516
More affordable than 51% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#6,281 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 3.2×, Big Piney sits in the moderate band:
national rank #7,589 of 15,516 and #6,281 of 11,323micro cities (under 10,000).
Income and home value move in the same broad scale; check same-state peers before treating the multiple as an advantage or a warning.
How this ratio is calculated
Ratio = Census ACS 2023 median home value ÷ median household income for cities with both fields and population ≥ 1,000.
Rank 1 = lowest ratio (most compact). Bands match the fleet affordability thresholds used on guides (<3.0 / 3.0–5.0 / >5.0).
This is not a mortgage payment estimate and does not include rates, taxes, insurance, or down payment.
Income distribution context
$62,500Big Piney, WY median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Big Piney, WY median household income (Census ACS 5-year) with U.S. national quintile shares for context. Diagonal = equality; the curve is national, not computed for Big Piney, WY.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)36.4%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)3.0%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)58.8%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
445
Median Income
$62,500
Median Home Value
$198,700
Median Age
43.8
Poverty Rate
3.0%
Labor force participation
58.8%
Bachelor's Degree+
36.4%
Schools
Total Schools
3
Public schools in this city
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Big Piney's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
402 residents
2021
398 residents
2022
396 residents
2023
402 residents
2024
394 residents
2025
385 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
Total Permits (2024)
0
housing units authorized
Single-Family
0
detached homes
Multifamily
0
apartments & condos
5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)
Year
Total
Single-Family
Multifamily
Est. Value
2019
0
0
0
-
2020
0
0
0
-
2021
0
0
0
-
2022
0
0
0
-
2023
0
0
0
-
2024
0
0
0
-
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
76.5%
Carpool
20.3%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
0.5%
Work from Home
0.0%
Other
2.7%
Based on 187 workers 16 and over.
Monthly Utility Costs
Wyoming statewide monthly utility average (EIA 2023): $180
EIA 2023 residential energy data puts average monthly utilities across Wyoming at $180 (electricity about $85 , water and sewer about $40 ).
These are Wyoming statewide averages, not a meter reading for Big Piney. Actual bills vary by home size, usage, and local rates. Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023.
Living Costs & Risk
Wyoming's BEA cost-of-living index is 92.7 (Below Average; US average = 100, RPP 2024). HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in the county around Big Piney is $1,044/mo. FEMA's National Risk Index, averaged to Wyoming statewide on PlainCities, rates natural-hazard exposure at 37.9 / 100 (Very Low).
Cost/risk geography note
Cost of living is a Wyoming statewide BEA average; rent is a county-level HUD Fair Market Rent for the county Big Piney sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Big Piney compares to similar-size Wyoming cities
Same-state peer method
Closest same-state population matches, not geographic neighbors. Population + median household income come from Census Bureau ACS 5-year B01001 and B19013.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year 2023, NCES CCD, Census BPS 2024, Census ACS B08301/B08136, U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023, BEA Regional Price Parities 2024, HUD Fair Market Rents 2026, FEMA National Risk Index.